BERLIN, 2 June 2003 — Michael Ballack inspired Bayern Munich to a 3-1 win over Kaiserslautern in Saturday’s German Cup final for their fourth domestic league and cup double.
The Germany playmaker scored two early goals before setting up a third to help the German champions seal their 11th Cup triumph. They also won the double in 1969, 1986 and 2000.
Bayern comfortably won their 18th league title with four games remaining in the season.
Ballack headed Bayern into the lead from a free kick by England midfielder Owen Hargreaves on three minutes and doubled the advantage from a penalty seven minutes later after Hargreaves was brought down in the box. He then set up Peru striker Claudio Pizarro, who flicked the ball over Kaiserslautern goalkeeper Tim Wiese to put Bayern 3-0 up five minutes into the second half. Kaiserslautern, who battled against relegation and financial collapse this season, had midfielder Marian Hristov sent off for a dangerous tackle on Bayern’s Elber in the 78th minute.
AC Milan Crown Glory
Week With Italian Cup
AC Milan won the Italian Cup with a 2-2 draw with AS Roma in the second leg of the final on Saturday to top off Wednesday’s Champions League triumph in front of a packed San Siro stadium in carnival mood.
Striker Filippo Inzaghi equalised for Milan deep into injury time, giving the home side a comfortable 6-3 aggregate win after thrashing Roma 4-1 in the first leg earlier this month.
With 76,000 Milan fans celebrating the Champions League final win over Juventus, Roma striker Francesco Totti briefly threatened to spoil the party by thumping home two free-kicks from 30 yards in the second half. But Rivaldo scored for Milan with a close-range header a minute after Roma went 2-0 up, crushing any hope Roma might have had of pulling the final back.
After Roma striker Antonio Cassano was sent off with 20 minutes remaining and Totti received his second booking just before fulltime, Inzaghi then raced on to a through ball from Rivaldo to equalize and seal the aggregate win three minutes into injury time.
Two Late Goals Give
Auxerre French Cup
In Paris, Late goals by Djibril Cisse and Jean Alain Boumsong gave AJ Auxerre a deserved 2-1 victory over 10-man Paris St Germain in the French Cup final on Saturday. The Burgundy side snatched the third Cup success in their history and their first since 1996 to qualify for the first round of next season’s UEFA Cup.
The defeat at the Stade de France was another blow for PSG, the big-spending club from the capital, after they finished 11th in the standings last weekend 14 points adrift of champions Olympique Lyon — their worst league record for 15 years. PSG will be without European football next season after passing up their last opportunity to avoid finishing the season empty-handed.
